Dance, but don't disturb the animals

Financially-troubled Adelaide Zoo is considering running a silent disco, as it seeks to attract new visitors and boost its cash flow.

Those attending silent discos dance to music heard through headphones.

Zoo staff have held a brainstorming session to think of ways to appeal to a wider audience without disturbing the animals.

New Zoos SA CEO Elaine Bensted said the events had been held in zoos overseas.

"London Zoo have been running silent discos, trying to encourage people who might not normally come to the zoo in an evening to have a bit of fun but do it in a way that didn't disturb the animals," she said.

"It's worked incredibly successfully and I understand San Francisco have just recently trialled it as well.

"People can look at the animals and they can listen to music and they can dance if they wish but they're doing it through headphones so there is absolutely no disturbing of animals in the evening."

Ms Bensted said most of the feedback from London had been positive, but there had been an unforseen issue which cropped up.

They did occasionally have to put announcements through people's headphones just to remind people that their singing is still fairly loud, even if the music isn't

Elaine Bedsted

"The only thing they said, which I found quite amusing, was that they did occasionally have to put announcements through people's headphones just to remind people that their singing is still fairly loud, even if the music isn't," she said.

She said the Zoo could look at whether to serve alcohol.

"The ones overseas have. It's one of the things that we would obviously need to consider very, very carefully," she said.

"We do have functions in the zoo already. We have external experienced caterers so it's obviously done in a responsible manner but it would need to be done in a responsible manner if we were going to entertain trialling it in Adelaide."

Other ideas from the brainstorming included holding speed dating nights (not that the zoo's panda pair Wang Wang and Funi need any part of that).

Ms Bedsted said romance and the zoo setting could work well.

"It's a wonderful location for, for example, romantic Valentine's Day-type sessions. That led to somebody else coming with the idea 'But what about people who don't have a date, maybe we could do some speed dating?'" she said.

"As I said, it was brainstorming, looking at any type of idea - sandpits where kids can dig for fossils and learn about animal extinction, partnerships with other festivals like the Fringe or SALA (South Australian Living Arts festival)."